Planting Research to End at Germany's Famed Hermannshof Display and Trial Garden

by Anke Schmitz

I’ve admired the scientific and artistic mission of Hermannshof for many years, but—living across an ocean—I’ve visited only two times. First in the summer of 2019, and again, only recently, at the end of August. I attended The Dynamic Vision Symposium, a program on designing and maintaining naturalistic plant communities into the future, which attracted 450 attendees from 27 countries, in Mannheim, Germany. This was my second opportunity to visit Hermannshof, located nearby in Weinheim. An exciting and inspiring meeting, this Symposium will be long remembered, I think, for stimulating thought on greening the world of the future, but it will also be remembered because of a shadow hovering over it:  the director of Hermannshof, Cassian Schmidt, where much of the research that was the subject of this conference has been conducted for more than two decades, will not continue in his role. You see, the Board of Hermannshof has decided to terminate the garden’s scientific mission, and last spring, terminated Cassian’s directorship there. That is the subject of this article, written by Anke Schmitz, a German garden journalist, gardener and trained garden therapist, and translated from German by Giacomo Guzzon. Here is Ms. Schmitz’ report. - editor

Dry prairie planting with Nassella tenuissima, Monarda, Echinacea.

As was made public in the local German press in mid-June, planting research will no longer be carried out at Hermannshof in Weinheim. Along with that shocking decision, the Board of Directors also dismissed Hermannshof's scientific director, Cassian Schmidt, probably Germany's best-known landscape designer, thus causing an uproar in the international gardening world.

The Canadian garden journalist and designer Tony Spencer calls Hermannshof "Germany's horticultural gift to the world"! In his book "The English Gardener", Financial Times columnist and Oxford University professor Robin Lane Fox devoted an entire chapter to the "Heavenly Hermannshof", calling it a "shining example of systematic planting, beauty and expertise". He also emphasised that there was nothing comparable in England or France. Piet Oudolf, the internationally renowned Dutch garden designer, laments the loss of Hermannshof under the direction of Cassian Schmidt because he has learned so much from Cassian's work.

‘Indian Summer Mix’ dry prairie planting.

Germany's reputation for garden culture seems more strongly perceived abroad than in Germany. For over twenty years, Hermannshof Garden in Weinheim, under the direction of Cassian Schmidt, was part of the avant-garde of contemporary garden design and Germany's most prominent sight-seeing garden. Here, perennial plantings developed based on principles of plant sociology were simultaneously climate-sensitive and aesthetically pleasing. Schmidt introduced many drought-tolerant plant species into garden culture, including various Echinacea spp., and thus made prairie plantings a popular style.

The spread of individual plants within a bed is dynamic, and gardeners control its appearance, making care a creative process and an equal component to design. The contemporary method of combining plants according to their environmental needs in a naturalistic way, often referred to abroad as the "New German Style", is now applied worldwide, especially in public green spaces. Schmidt is probably the most prominent international representative of this natural-looking planting method and a popular speaker at international seminars and symposia.

A steppe planting with salvia and knautia.

Originally laid out as a pleasure garden, the 2.3-hectare Hermannshof estate, with the villa named after him, was acquired by Hermann-Ernst Freudenberg in 1888. In 1980, the families and the Carl Freudenberg company decided to establish a show and trial garden on the grounds of Hermannshof, supported by an association and made accessible to the public free of charge. From 1981 to 1983, the garden was extended by Urs Walser, the former head of the garden and professor emeritus for plant use at the Technical University in Dresden. Since mid-1998, the overall management of the garden has been in the hands of Prof. Cassian Schmidt, who has contributed significantly to the garden's international reputation.

As a result, Hermannshof has not only enjoyed great popularity among city dwellers but has also become a place of pilgrimage for international, botanically savvy tour groups. Students and aspiring gardeners use the garden as a living textbook.

According to the new statutes of the association, the decision to discontinue research activities was already decided at the end of January without prior consultation of the expert advisory board. Scientific management thus came to an end. The aim is to "shift the park's focus towards its utility value for the general public", Thorsten Baege, chairman of the board of Hermannshof, replied in writing. However, gastronomy, theatre or music events are not planned. So the question of how the utility value is to be increased remains unanswered. According to Baege, eliminating the scientific mission of Hermannshof will not reduce the costs of maintaining the garden as a public ground. As a matter of fact, the garden would continue to be financed to 70 percent by the Freudenberg family's community of heirs, and 20 percent by the city, whose mayor, Manuel Just, also voted in favour of the statute amendment. The remaining 10 percent was earned by the garden itself, mainly through guided tours and plant sales. According to the board's chairman, the current plant trials are to be completed and published in specialist circles, and the beds are to be preserved in their current condition.

The Chinese Monsoon Woodland planting, named for its ecological conditions and the character of the plants, some of which are typical of such areas.

This grave decision has dismayed the international garden community, especially in social media, not only because of Cassian Schmidt's many years of personal dedication to this work but because the public call for more green spaces in cities seems louder than ever in view of the increasingly warming climate. "Without expert advice, research and further development of plant assortment and cultural techniques, adaptation to climate change is impossible," writes Folko Kullman, President of the Society of German Friends of Perennials. "These ideas have never been more needed or relevant than right now", says Tony Spencer in his statement. Consequently, new initiatives and calls for more green infrastructure are proliferating. Even newspapers are sponsoring and founding green areas and resorts dedicated to resilient and drought-tolerant trees are publishing articles on biodiversity.

Piet Oudolf comments on the current developments in Weinheim: "With all the discussions about our environment and what we could do to take the right steps to create more awareness and possibilities to make cities and public space greener and more durable, I notice that a lot is marketing and not what we need most:  investing capital and providing education.” The plant experimentation and research at Hermannshof and what it means in our world, Oudolf continues, is a significant loss for future landscape architects and designers who want to create a better world.

One would think that the gardening world and community could take comfort in the existence of other research and trial gardens. Their task is also to scientifically observe and adapt perennials, woody plants, and planting concepts to a changing climate, making them suitable for gardens in countries across much of the world, all of which have research institutions dedicated to plant use in tune with the mission of Hermannshof. But in these research gardens, too, the course that could starve practice-oriented research in the future is increasingly being set. For example, the scientific management of the Weihenstephan observation garden in Germany withdrew in March last year due to successive job cuts that made it challenging to develop the garden and plan research projects further. Sponsorship is supposed to boost the gardens' funding, which carries the risk of corporate influence. But also at other research sites, which in turn are mostly affiliated with botanical gardens, universities or teaching and research institutes, "the economic constraints are becoming greater," says Bernd Hertle, chairman of the Perennial Plant Sighting Working Group and former director of the Weihenstephan Gardens.

Dry prairie planting.

 As the German flagship of research gardens, Hermannshof's main mission and purpose are gone. How work will continue on the site is not understandable at this point. The board has not yet given a direct explanation as to why the research has been dropped. The new shift of Hermannshof toward increasing the “utility value” of the garden for a broader public also raises the question:  How could this have a greater value than Weinheim's planting concepts already developed and applied internationally?

If this unfortunate reorientation of Hermannshof is good for anything, it may only be as a loud wake-up call and warning to our remaining research gardens and institutions to be alert for such harmful decisions in the future. The world needs more resources dedicated to research and teaching for sustainable urban greening, not less.

On Saturday morning, August 26, Cassian Schmidt giving possibly his last tour of Hermannshof to several hundred attendees of the Symposium.

(All photos, except last, courtesy of Cassian Schmidt).